A Bit of Estrogen
by dreamwalker41
Summary: Keely Lancaster is being sent to Camp Green Lake for a crime that she didn't even commit. As she adjusts to life in the camp, the boys of D-Tent have to adjust to a feminine presence in the camp. Will she help the boys through their own struggles or will she just make things worse?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: AN APOLOGY TO THOSE WHO READ THIS STORY BEFORE I UPDATED IT! That is what happens when I try and write a story in two hours... at midnight. :) An epic fail. (My clauses weren't properly placed, y'all- THEY WERE LEFT OPEN ENDED! Grammar freak out moment.) So, I proof read it and I hope it makes more sense. Now for the rest of the author's note.**

** So, this started when I tried to read a romantic fic on here the other day, but I couldn't find hardly any good ones on Holes. So, I'm writing my own. I hope you enjoy this short introductory chapter. P.S., if you're reading my other stories, I haven't forgotten about them. I'm just ADD when it comes to writing. If I don't write what I feel like writing, I'll explode. I'll update all of them in the course of the next few weeks, then more often after that. Sorry for the dry spell.**

I looked out the wide windows on the dusty old bus. I didn't do it. But it didn't matter. No one believed me.

When I was tried, they told me that I wouldn't last a minute in Juvie, so they sent me to Camp Green Lake. They told me that it was normally for boys, but the Warden was a girl, too, so I wouldn't be alone. That, and they argued that I would be fine, considering the crime I had committed was a "big boy" crime. They told me I was meant for this league.

Meant for Camp Green Lake.

Ironic name. I didn't see no lake. I saw the driest land I'd ever seen. And holes. Lots and lots of holes.

"How much longer?" I yelled at the driver at the front. He just grunted and mumbled something like "too long", so I decided to just keep quiet after that. I had enough fun antagonizing the driver during the entire twelve hour bus ride. I needed to save my breath to defend myself against the some hundred boys at this camp.

I saw a vague outline of an old-fashioned house, surrounded by tents and other small buildings. "There it is," I uttered under my breath.

I propped my legs up on the seat opposite from where I was sitting. Throwing my shoulder over the seat, I looked at the holes outside, some with boys in them, dust flung into messy piles. A few tried to squint into the bus to see the new prisoner, but I knew they couldn't see me. That Texas sun was too bright.

I followed the dirt path that we were travelling on with my eyes, guessing that we were to be at the camp in a matter of seconds. Well, if they wanted me to get off, they were going to have to _make _me. I settled my back down into an even further slump, sinking down into the seat and crossing my arms defensively.

The bus driver drove right through the middle of the camp, swerving to avoid staring boys dressed in hideous orange jumpsuits, but he didn't slow down in the least. At last, he slammed on the brakes, and roughly put the bus into park, making the whole vehicle shudder. I heard his heavy boots walk to the foot of my seat. I slowly looked up at him and raised one eyebrow. He threw my bag into my chest and said, "Get out. You're here."

I didn't budge.

I guess he didn't know how to respond, because he kind of just stood there for a few minutes, scratching his head. He'd probably never had to deal with a camper who didn't want off the bus... or at least a female one, anyway. Finally, he just scooped me up, threw me over his shoulder, and carried my bag in the other hand. From the door of the bus, he threw me on the ground without reserve, and my bag bounced on the ground right beside me as he sped off.

Rubbing my now scratched elbows, I sat up, dusting myself off. I picked up my bag, and looked up at my new home for the first time. Well, I would have, if twenty something boys weren't around me. One of them let out a long, low whistle.

"'Scuse me?" I growled, puffing out my chest and opening my arms wide.

"Leave her alone," said a voice from the back of the crowd. A tall, curly-headed lady emerged from the sea of boys, like Moses himself had parted it.

"Keely Lancaster, I take it?" she stuck out her hand. I went to shake it, but she grabbed me by the arm and led me back out through the testosterone ocean to the cabin. She shut the door behind us, guided me over to a couch, and pushed me down.

"You thirsty, Lancaster?"

"Yes m'am."

I heard the sound of a Coke bottle being opened, and then the sound of clunky cowboy boots on the hardwood floor. She held the drink in my face, and I took it. I drank it without hesitation.

"You know, no one's had one of those around here 'cept me in years. You're a lucky one, you are." She put her booted feet up on the coffee table. I stared her down, refusing to break eye contact. "You're bold. I like it."

She studied me for a minute, and I stared at her right back, sipping on the Coke nonchalantly. "You seem capable of defending yourself. So, unless you can give me a good reason for me not to put you in an all boys tent, that's where you're going to end up."

I shrugged. "I'm all for it. Bring it on." I too put my flip-flop-wearing feet on the coffee table. A sly smile slid over her face.

"Glad to see we're on the same page. So, instead of having Mr. Sir explain things to you, I thought we'd have a girl to girl talk. It's nice to have a bit of estrogen in this camp, even if you have caused a little trouble. I've had to order new uniforms for you." She stood and walked over to a box, still wrapped in packing tape, fresh from the manufacturer. She cut it open with one of her long, painted nails, and dropped the opened package on my lap. I pulled out two white tank tops and orange baggy pants. Eh, not so bad.

"I'm just going to lay it all out for you, short and sweet. One's for diggin', the other's for relaxin'. Every three days, you turn in your work clothes to be washed and your relaxin' clothes become your diggin' clothes. You dig one hole each day, five feet by five feet. If you can't eye it, use the length of your shovel. Watch out for rattlesnakes and yellow spotted lizards. Oh, and good luck tryin' to run away. If you hadn't noticed, there's no fences or guards. Just the open, dry desert with all its vultures that'd love to get their claws on your flesh. I suggest you don't let them." She paused for a second, rubbing her chin.

"I'm going to put you in D-Tent. They only have eight right now, including Pendanski. And, in advance, I'm sorry about Pendanski. He's… chipper. I'm not going to have anyone check your bags, because, well, _girl_ reasons that these Neanderthals wouldn't understand... and honestly, I just don't feel like checking it myself. I trust that you won't have anything you're not supposed to, right?"

My mind went immediately to my dagger, hidden within the layers of my clothes and books in my bag. "Yeah, sure."

"Good. Go get set up in your tent. Maybe I'll see you later." She turned her back to me, obviously expecting me to just up and leave.

Taking my new uniforms with me, I let myself out, curious to see the camp around me. I was immediately swarmed by boys. I rolled my shoulders back, clenching my fists, making a mental note of the location of my dagger in my bag.

"What's the matter? Ever seen a girl before?" I said, squinting my eyes.

"It's been a few years," said a boy with thick, dusty glasses. "What'd you say your name was, again?" He and several others followed behind me.

"Keely. What's yours?"

"X—"

"His name is Rex." This older, more annoying voice made me stop and turn around. A hand was thrust into my face. I took it, shaking it firmly, peering into the face of its owner. "My name is Dr. Pendanski. I'm excited to meet you, Keely. Welcome to Camp Green Lake! I am so happy that you were put into Tent D." At this, some of the boys nudged each other and smirks were displayed on their lips. "D stands for diligence. You see…"

I decided not to listen any further. I nodded my head, from time to time looking at the boys surrounding us. A close group in particular was talking to each other without taking their eyes off of me, which included Rex.

Soon, I noticed that Pendanski had stopped talking and I asked simply, "Which way to Tent D?" He smiled at me and pointed to a certain tent off a ways, and I mumbled thanks and started walking. The boys dispersed, all except the talkative group, which followed me.

"Nice to meet you, _chica_. We're your new tent mates." I opened the flap to the tent, letting it close behind me, not caring for them to follow me in.

They did anyway. "I'm Magnet." I turned around to see him. He was standing there with the widest grin on his face. "This is Barfbag, Armpit, X-Ray, ZigZag, and Squid. That over there is Zero. Don't bother talking to him. He won't talk back." I shot a small glance over to the short kid on the farthest cot.

I examined them all for a bit. They seemed nice enough, normal enough… well, as normal as convicts can be. The strangest thing had to have been ZigZag's hair.

"Thanks for the introductions, boys. Maybe y'all can show me the ropes. I'm Keely, in case you haven't heard."

X-Ray stepped forward. "Oh, we've heard. Hard to miss such a pretty lady." He started to move his hand toward my face. Without hesitation, I slapped him hard across the face. He winced, grabbing his cheek and backing away. I kept my apathetic look on my face.

"Let's get something straight. No one messes with me. Got it?" With that, I unzipped my bag and pulled out my dagger, sheath and all. They stared at me, wide eyed. "That's right. Y'all understand now."

I started to unfold my uniform, eyeing the boys. "So… I need to change now." They didn't budge. A mischievous smile came over Magnet's face. I unsheathed my dagger. "_Everybody out… NOW!_"

They bumped into each other, sliding and falling as they tried to get out of the same tiny opening all at once. Grinning to myself, I started to change clothes. It was going to be an interesting six years.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: I really am sorry they're so short. They'll pick up as soon as I lay the foundation for everything. Just a small review response, then you may read:**

**to the Guest: Thank you so much! It's fun being the author because you get to know and watch people wanting to know. I'm glad you already want to know and you've only read the second chapter. It's encouraging! :) I haven't really foreshadowed any, so it's hard to tell who it is, but I'd like to hear your guesses! (But I won't tell you if you got it right or wrong!) Thanks for reading!**

I had changed and unpacked within the silence of the tent. I had successfully intimidated the D-Tent boys into not bothering me for a while. Hopefully they would spread rumors about me and keep the other boys at bay… at least for a while.

Taking a deep breath, I looked around the room. I breathed out quickly, wanting to get the wretched stench of the room out of my nose. The place was a pig sty. I would have to make it clear to the boys that things were going to change.

Putting all my things back into my bag, and placing my dagger into my orange pants pocket, I dusted my hands and went outside the tent, the canvas closing behind me with a slap.

Immediately stepping outside, I realized that I was not as alone inside the tent as I had thought. Twenty or so boys were outside, and flocked to where I was standing. Apparently the D-Tenters hadn't done a good job of spreading the "tough girl" rumor. Sighing, I ignored their cat-calls and comments and tried to make my way to the mess hall, quickening my pace.

I burst through the door, basically running straight for the end of the line. I grabbed my tray with my shoulders hunched, as if to guard myself from being seen. The boys, in presence of food, seemed to forget me for a minute, and I embraced the solitude.

Coming up to the first station, I stuck out my tray towards the server. He laughed at me a bit. "This isn't girly food, honey. Good luck." He slopped some sort of sticky neon orange substance on my plate.

"Who says I like girly food? And don't call me honey, buddy boy," I said, moving down the line, smirking at him.

The last server at the end of the line gave me a slice of bread, which looked digestable. Thankfully.

Looking around, I was afraid that I would have to sit with someone. I accidentally made eye contact with Squid, who nudged Zigzag in the ribs with his elbow, then pointed at me. In a matter of milliseconds, they were all looking at me, calling me and waving at me to come and join them.

Dipping my head, I turned deliberately from their gazes and made my way over to an empty table in the corner across the room. I set my tray down on the table with a slam, trying to ignore the sets of eyes on the back of me.

Dipping my fork into the orange sludge doubtfully, I suddenly heard ten or so sets of footsteps approaching me. Groaning inwardly, I turned to see the rest of Tent D heading towards my table. I whipped my head back around, trying to pretend that I hadn't seen them, making it clear that I didn't want them to eat with me.

They didn't get the idea.

"Hey, Keely. Mind if we sit here?" asked Barfbag, taking a seat a little too close to me.

"No, of course she doesn't, Barfbag. Just thought you might want a little company during your first meal at Camp Green Lake," said Squid, scooting closer to me on the other side.

"Uh, th…thanks, Squid. But I was just fine by myself," I said, moving a bit closer to Barfbag, trying to make an even barrier of empty space on either side.

"Yeah, I doubt that. Who's going to tell you what's edible and what's not? Like that orange stuff… last time I ate that, I was sick for three days straight," Squid said, lowering my fork back onto my plate, wiping my fork onto a napkin.

"That means you didn't have to dig, right? Maybe that's not such a bad thing…" I said under my breath, not thinking that they could hear me.

The table exploded into laughter. "Sounds like this girl has some moxy to her. Kinda sounds like to me she knows what she's talking about. You've never dug no holes before, right, baby girl?" X-Ray said.

I rolled my eyes, "Don't call me baby girl, X-Ray. And no, I've never dug any holes before, but I can imagine what it's like."

"You have no clue," X-Ray said. Then, looking around the others' plates, he looked discontented. "Okay, boys, hand 'em over. Not going to make the new _lady _give it up… at least not today."

The boys all grabbed their slices of bread and tossed it onto X-Ray's plate. I narrowed my eyes. "What do you think you're doing?"

"What does it look like? They're making sacrifices for your belly and mine. I have to have decent food because, well, I'm their leader. You get to have food because you're a girl, and it's your first day. I may not be so kind in the future. You're welcome," X-Ray spat.

"I didn't request special treatment just because I have longer hair and different parts," I glared at him. "Give back their bread," I said, picking up my bread and trusting it in his face, "And take mine."

X-Ray leaned over the table, "_No._" He held up the chunk of all the stacked pieces of bread and took a huge bite out of it.

I gritted my teeth. I felt the two boys beside me tense up, and I tried to calm myself down. I breathed in slowly in my nose and out my mouth. I threw up my hands in defeat. There are some things that aren't worth fighting about, especially if the person you're up against is a hard-headed pig.

"So…" Zigzag said wearily, then eyed me, "What are you in for?"

I felt my stomach clench. Painful memories fled back into view…

_Fire…screams...running…sirens…_

"I don't really want to talk about that," I said, picking up my tray, "And I just lost my appetite." I swung my legs over the picnic bench. "Night."

There was a chorus of night's as I walked away. Glacing back, I saw the boys backhand Zigzag in the shoulder with frusterated questioning looks on their faces. I threw my tray into the dirty dishes and headed out of the door. And this time, no one followed me.


End file.
